CHAPTER 3:

Leia's mind and body felt as if she was buried in the mud of the swamp where her ship crash landed. She tried to recall where she was, what happened before she blacked out, but her thoughts flowed as slow as molasses. Han's face appeared behind her eyelids. Han…

When had she last seen him? Han didn't know that she took this recognizance mission; he didn't know where she was. She didn't know where she was… She crashed on Diepre; that was where she had to be. The controls of her ship stopped working after an electrical…something struck her X-wing. It wasn't lightning or something natural. X-wings could withstand blast hits if not directly hit. This was something else. Leia got a bad feeling.

The princess forced her eyes open. A hazy film surrounded the objects in the white room. She blinked a few times but her vision remained fuzzy. Though the lighting was dim, she had a hard time holding open her eyelids. With effort, her eyes traveled around the room. A chair, vital monitors, an IV hanging from a stand to her left, guardrails on each side of the bed in which she lay. Medical equipment. She must be in a hospital of sorts. Perhaps the Alliance sent a rescue team…

No, the room was too homey to be the medical center on Chandrila. She was still on Diepre.

Leia's eyes followed the tube trailing from the IV. It ended in her arm. She started to reach for it but she couldn't. She looked at her hand; it was tethered to the guardrail. The princess pulled on the restraint to test its strength. She tried her other hand; it was tethered as well. She was someone's prisoner. Imperial?

"You're awake."

Leia turned her eyes toward the voice—a male voice, deep, gravelly. Cheery. She closed her eyes.

"Come on. You can't sleep your life away," the man said as he adjusted the IV.

The princess opened her large brown eyes. A man, the same one that slit Prog's throat—Prog—moved to stand at the foot of her bed. His blonde hair was swept back and hung to his shoulders. His prominent brow shadowed his eyes, and his square jaw and fit physique made him look like a superhero from the comic holographs she read as a child. But his shadowy eyes made him appear villain-like. The man wasn't wearing the sleek dragon armor he wore when she first saw him at the side of her X-wing. He now donned a crisp ivory tunic with a sanguine-colored insignia on the right side of his chest that Leia remembered seeing somewhere but couldn't place. His pants were brown with an ivory stripe running up the sides of his legs, and his dark brown leather boots stopped at his knees. And there was that damn sanguine cape.

"Where's the rest of my team? she asked.

"Unfortunately, they did not make it."

"You kill them like you did Prog?"

"Prog was going to die anyway. I put him out of his misery."

"And did you do the same for the others?"

"One was melted into his X-wing. The other, well, we never found him."

"Did you look?"

"There was no point."

"Why did you kill Prog?"

"I didn't need Prog." The man clutched his hands behind his back. "I needed you."

"Why?" she asked again.

"In time, I will reveal my reasons."

"Who are you?"

"Your greatest ally." The man's lips stretched into a smile.

She shivered. "You're no ally of mine."

He laughed. "In time."

She tugged at her restraints. "Allies don't tie allies down."

"You're severely injured. I feared that you would hurt yourself."

Leia narrowed her eyes. "No. That not it."

"You're too powerful to be given freedom."

She swallowed down the hoarseness in her voice. "I'm not powerful, but I do have powerful friends."

"Yes. Commander Skywalker, the last Jedi of the galaxy."

"When he comes for me—"

"Does he know where you are?"

Leia looked away.

"You're going to regret keeping me prisoner."

"You are not a prisoner; just a danger to yourself."

She asked again, "Who are you?"

"You don't remember me?"

She said nothing.

The mysterious man smiled again and took a couple steps closer to her bed. "A friend of your father."

Darth Vader popped into the princess's mind. Her heart bounced against her sore ribcage. But then she remembered: no one else in the galaxy knew of her and Luke's secret. Or was she wrong?

"Trying to place me?"

Again she said nothing.

"We've met before." The man paused to let his words sink in. "You were about five-years old, a wee little thing working away in your father's study as if what you were working on was the most important thing in the galaxy." He smiled. "Perhaps it was. Your father was right; you were a brilliant child. And special."

An image of the man, his face not quite clear, his gravelly voice talking low, words floating over her head. Leia relaxed. He was speaking of Bail Organa, her adopted father.

"I see you remember something about me."

"You were no friend of my father."

"You're right. We were political associates, but I like to think of him as a friend."

Leia licked her lips then rested her upper teeth on her lower lip. Something about him was off.

"You, on the other hand, thought I was a threat. I saw it in your eyes, the suspicion…the contempt." He shook his head. "I never understood why. Tell me, did you share your feelings with your father?"

Did she? I don't like that man. That was all she said to her father. And he asked her why, Leia couldn't put her uneasy feelings into words; she was only five. How often did this man do business with her father? There was such secrecy. Was he involved with the rebellion?

Leia didn't know all of her father's associates. He traveled a lot for the Senate, and he had a second life filled with secrets, Leia remembered sensing, secrets that weighed heavily on his heart. Bail Organa often sat silent in his office, his peaked hands touching his chin, his dark eyes far away. He didn't always notice when she entered, or at least that's what she believed. She would tip-toe behind her father's chair and climb up the back of it. He was never startled; he would laugh and pull her into his lap. The furrowed brow and peaked fingers would disappear, and his face would be relaxed—all smiles—and his eyes shined with pure love as he tickled her.

As the princess grew older, maybe seven- or eight-years old, her father ceased the tickling and his smile was strained; the love still resided in his eyes, but concern tinged with sadness hovered behind the love. He still held her on his lap, but now he shared his work—but not his secret life—with her, not at this age. Her father was already grooming her for her role in the Senate. He often told her that she was going to make the galaxy a better place; he had such faith in that belief. That was the beginning of the end of her childhood.

Leia held her tears inside and pushed those memories out of her mind.

"The way you looked at me then," the man said, catching her full attention. "I knew there was something special about you. I've kept tabs on you ever since, following your career…and you're betrayal of the Empire over Tatooine. But you betrayed the Empire much earlier than that, didn't you?"

"You're with the Empire," Leia surmised.

"No." The man walked to the side of her bed. "I never had love for that evil government. I once believed in democracy."

"But not anymore."

"You're right," he conceded. "But I did fight for the Alliance a long time ago."

"Then why are you holding me prisoner?"

"Did I say you were my prisoner?"

Her right eyebrow rose and she lifted her restrained hands.

The man clasped his hands behind his back and lifted his chin. "You're right. You're my guest, and the restraints are no way to treat a guest. Besides, I trust you will be no trouble?"

She shook her head "no."

He walked to the right side of her bed, leaned over Leia, and untethered her left hand before she did the right. He then ran his hand down her hair, stopping on a spot behind her ear. He pressed against that spot.

When he removed his hand, Leia touched that place and noticed a bump. It was small and soft to the touch. She pressed on it; it gave a little before returning to its original shape. Unlike the other bumps on her head, this one didn't cause her any pain. It was quite the opposite. She looked into the golden eyes of the man as her brain was flooded with dopamine.

"As I told you, you are very powerful, but I trust you will not turn your power against me."

"Why do you think I'm powerful?"

"The Force…I feel it inside you." The man let his words sink in again. "I felt it in you that day our paths crossed. Yes, you were only a child, but I felt it."

A shiver tickled the nerves in the back of her neck. "I know nothing of the Force."

The man's brow rose. "But you do."

"I only know it through Commander Skywalker. I've seen what he can do."

"Yes, he has become a powerful Jedi. The last Jedi in the galaxy, but he is not the only one who can manipulate the Force."

Leia pressed her lips together and gazed into the man's eyes. A chill rumbled her stomach.

"You're Sith."

"God, no," the man laughed. "Misguided fools."

"But you're not a Jedi."

"No. The Sith and the Jedi live in a black-and-white galaxy, and as you know, Princess, the galaxy is anything but black-and-white. I am a Force Sensitive. I can harness its power, manipulated it, use it for my will."

"For…" she squint her eyes. "For selfish reasons."

"Or for the good of the galaxy, like Commander Skywalker."

"But you choose to use it for your own purpose. You...you don't just use the Light side."

"Very observant. I want to better the galaxy so that I can live in peace. The truth is everyone has selfish motives behind their altruism, Princess." The man's eyes held hers. "Even you."

Leia looked away. "Not Luke."

"Commander Skywalker cause is noble. His quest to revive the Jedi Order is vital."

How did he know about Luke's quest? Leia's heart sped up, but her countenance remained neutral.

"Your struggling government needs the Jedi to protect the democratic entity that is doomed to fail." He shrugged. "He was told that this path is his destiny. However, Skywalker wanted to become a Jedi like his father; now he wants to right his father's sins."

Leia blankly stared at the man.

"Not aware of whom his father is?"

She shook her head; he leaned in studying her face.

"Not surprised that he wouldn't share this information with one of his closest friends. It is something to be ashamed of." The man took a step back. "His father was Darth Vader."

Leia feigned shock and repulsion. The repulsion was easy; Luke's father was her father. No, Bail Organa was my true father.

"It was easy to figure out." The man's lips stretched into a smile that repulsed Leia. "Darth Vader was Anakin Skywalker, the Jedi's Chosen One. He was supposed to bring balance to the Force, but he discovered the power of the Dark Side, and was trained by a Sith, the Emperor himself. Anakin Skywalker turned against his own kind."

"How do you know Vader's Luke's father?"

"Skywalker. Not a very common name. No one changed his last name. It's as if whoever protected and trained him wanted Darth Vader to find him. When Vader discovered that he had a son, Vader stopped at nothing to find him." The man tilted his head. "Everyone knew Senator Padme Amidala was pregnant, though she kept the identity of the father secret. She had been seen with Anakin. She spent most of her free time with him even after he was no longer serving as her bodyguard. And the way Anakin looked at her…Did you know Jedi are forbidden to form relationships?" The man frowned. "Anakin Skywalker broke the Jedi Laws. Perhaps this is why he so easily embraced the Dark Side."

"Luke is nothing like Vader."

"No. He clings to the Light Side of the Force, but he fears becoming like his father."

"That will never happen."

"Maybe." The man shrugged again. "But how can he be the most powerful Jedi without wielding the Dark Side when he wants to?"

"Harnessing the power of the Dark Side corrupts."

He laughed through a closed mouth. "What do you know of the Dark Side and Light Side of the Force? You have no training."

"It corrupted Vader; it corrupted the Emperor."

"Perhaps they were corrupt before?" The man turned away from her and stared out the sole window in the room that was too high for Leia to see out. "No, they were selfish, influenced for selfish reasons." Then he turned to face her. "They desired power, and that is what made them powerful."

"And evil."

"In some beings' opinions." The right corner of his lip pulled up. "There are many who serve the Empire and believe in the Empire. They believe that it takes a strong fist, someone who was willing to do the…dirty work, to bring order to the galaxy. The galaxy was chaotic well before you were born. There were needless wars. The Emperor brought order to the chaos."

"You support the Empire."

The man shook his head. "God, no. They were just as corrupt as the Old Republic. There were beings in both governments that used their positions for personal gain, as there always are."

Leia dropped her head against the pillow; she felt exhausted. "Why are you holding me prisoner?"

"I told you—"

"I'm here against my will."

"You haven't asked to leave."

"I'm asking now."

The man chuckled. "Where would you go? Do you have a ship that will take you back to the Alliance?"

"No. But I need to get back to Chandrila."

"You were badly wounded in the crash," he informed her. "Your spleen and liver were lacerated, your lower ribs cracked, your left femur was broken in two places, and you were bleeding internally. You spent the last two days in a bacta tank. You should've died."

"But I didn't, because of you."

"Yes, I saved your life. That puts you in my debt."

"The Alliance will pay you handsomely if you return me to them."

"I'm sure they will, just like they paid General Solo when he rescued you from the Death Star."

"What do you want from me?" Leia asked.

"I want to teach you to use the Force." The man grabbed her eyes with his. "With your political background, sense of justice, I believe we can establish a government that embodies the positive aspects of the Empire and the Old Republic."

"Why?"

"If I say it was your destiny, would you believe me?"

"No."

The man chuckled again. "Then I won't say that. Commander Skywalker is powerful, but you could become more powerful."

"By using the powers of the Dark Side."

"Not necessarily, but if you must." His lips formed a thin line. "You have a strong sense of justice. I do not think it will corrupt you."

"I have no desire of becoming an Empress."

"I'm not looking for an Empress. I'm looking for someone who can establish a government that will work. You have the love of the people—well, those who don't believe in the Empire. You have been trained for this by your father. You are the galaxy's only hope."

"When the Republic is restored—"

"It will eventually fail whether that happens in our life time or many years after."

"You don't know that."

"It will survive and flourish under if you embrace the Force, and use it to better the galaxy."

"Power corrupts, you said."

"Yes, I've lived long enough to see governments on planets, the Old Republic itself, fail." He shook his head.

"Then it will corrupt me."

"As I said, I am not looking to create an Empress. I want the New Republic to work; I want a fair Senate and a just and merciful government. This can only happen if you and I play a part in the New Republic. Your sense of right and wrong is strong. Chances are that won't change after I train you."

"You can't teach an unwilling pupil."

"I have my methods."

Leia opened her mouth. "You won't break me. Vader couldn't."

"I have no intention of breaking you. You will face hardships during your training, but I don't want to break you. I want you to harness your power, understand why you need to use the Force to bring order to the galaxy."

Leia mulled over the man's ideas in her mind. He wanted what she wanted, but his methods…there was something off about his plan. She gazed into his shaded golden eyes. They were smiling, hopeful, confident. The look in his eyes, Leia felt a twinge of hope.

I saved your life. You're in my debt.

Like Chewbacca was indebted to Han. But that was the Wookie culture… She touched the bump behind her ear. I owe this man something.

"I don't know your name."

"It is not important." The man fiddled with the IV before turning on his heel. "Heal well, Your Highness. I will visit you soon."

Leia's eyes fluttered closed, and she fell into pleasant dreams.